"I guess people are just curious if there are differences in an all-female touring band," says Lander, lead singer for the metal group Kittie. "Honestly, I don't think there are. We work just as hard as everyone else. We put on as good a show as we possibly can. We have fun. We like to party, but we take our jobs seriously. We don't get preferential treatment."

Lander was 15 when the band started in Canada, 17 when it released its first full-length album, and barely a legal adult when the group played Ozzfest in 2000. As the years have gone on, Kittie has undergone a few lineup shifts. But the two core members sisters Morgan and Mercedes have stayed on.

The band began with an off-handed suggestion during gym class that the sisters jam with classmate and fellow guitarist Fallon Bowman. The girls played covers before writing their own music and getting signed. Before long, interest swirled around such a young, all-female group.

"The age thing was a big thing for everyone in the media," Lander says. ""How did this come about? How did you get into music so early?' When you're young, you start forming your own tastes. For us, it was no different. We just got lucky with being signed."

Kittie's name lends itself to a pop-rock sound, but the band's sound rages harder than that. Lender readily admits that the second album, Oracle, was purposely hard-rock-filled to buck that misconception.

And with its latest release, Funeral for Yesterday, Kittie has shredded any claims that it's just a novelty band.

"Eight years ago, when [debut album] Spit came out, if we were solely relying on that novelty and there was no musical value, we'd have died out a year or two after that," Lander says. "We're a band now. We're a great band.

"Obviously there's still curiosity seekers who are interested in the band solely because we're women or whatever. But I'm 25 and I'm still touring and people are still buying albums and coming to shows."

The 11 years of Kittie's existence have aligned perfectly with the crucial years in any individual's personal development ages 14 to 25.

It's something the women have incorporated into their songs, and why those songs sound more mature and thought-out on Funeral.

"We still retain that sense of intensity, aggression, anger," she says. "That's how we express ourselves. We're in love with the darker side of life. We're going to be in love with that side of life. We just express it in a more mature way. It's not like we're mad at the world."

Or, even, the repetitive questions of journalists.

Kittie with Calico System, Eyes Set to Kill and The Tower Crumbles

The Black Sheep, 2106 E. Platte Ave.

Thursday, May 24, 7 p.m.

Tickets: $12 in advance, $15 at the door; call 866/468-7621 or visit ticketweb.com.